Monthly Archives: February 2018

This year, progress surrounding the Green Heart will rapidly advance with the completion of University Square, and work on the former library site taking shape. We are hosting Open Forums throughout 2018 to give staff and students the opportunity to find out more.

Hosted across the Edgbaston campus, the sessions will give you the opportunity to discover more about the project’s development from chief architects, Churchman Landscape Architects, key contractors, Willmott Dixon and the University’s project team. Each Forum will also conclude with Q&As from the audience, giving you the chance to ask the questions most important to you. The first Forum will be held on:

The transformation of the first phase of University Square is now drawing to a close, and will be completed by mid-February (weather dependent). Since August 2017, the redeveloped space has had new lighting, benches and pathways installed, as well as the first of 160 new trees across the Green Heart.

In the coming weeks, the section of University Square closest to Staff House will be gradually cordoned off and temporary hoardings will be installed by mid-February (weather dependent). Temporary pathways and ramps will be installed where appropriate and disabled access will be maintained. These new routes are highlighted in red on the map below. Areas marked in green will be under construction and inaccessible to the public. The hoardings will be removed in June and University Square will be fully accessible once more.

Our commitment to staff and students is to ensure we provide timely and accurate information about what changes are to come, and what alternative routes are best to take around campus whilst construction is taking place; including disabled access. This will be done in a variety of ways, including signage on campus, Twitter, blog posts and the Intranet; all will be regularly updated.

Progress on the Green Heart is about to step up a gear over the next 2 weeks, so we thought we’d give you an update, so you are clued up on what is to come.

The Green Heart team from Willmott Dixon are hurtling towards the completion of phase 1 of University Square. The paving is being completed, new benches are in position, timber lamp columns are going in and topsoil has now been placed ready before the start of phase 2 mid-February.

Most excitedly, a delegation from the site team and designers are heading over to Ireland for a factory visit to check on the quality and progress of the pre-cast bridge which will sit in the parkland. Meanwhile, preparation for the bridge’s arrival continue; we are currently reinforcing and waterproofing the services ‘subway’ that forms the foundations for the bridge and café in front of Muirhead Tower. Watch our animation to see where the bridge will be placed. Finally, at the north of the site, the removal of surplus soil to form the amphitheatre continues.

Elsewhere on campus, the skyline has a new addition, a huge tower crane behind the Old Gym. It was put up last weekend, and when the rigging is complete, will be ready for the next stage of the project extending the upper floors over the sports hall roof.

This week saw the arrival of new benches as part of phase 1 of the Green Heart. The benches have been installed on the patterned paving circles, nicknamed ‘hubs’, along the new pathways currently being laid; find out how you helped to pave the Green Heart here.

The benches have been made by a small manufacturer in Sheffield, Bramhall 1840 Ltd, to a bespoke design for the Green Heart. They also include integrated LED lighting underneath the seats to enhance visibility at night. The inclusion of increased seating areas and improved lighting were both suggestions which arose through the University’s consultations prior to the project’s launch.

For the meantime, the benches have been covered by blue wrappers to keep them safe. We are also gearing up for phase 2 of University Square’s transformation, which will begin later this month, as materials such as benches and stone begin to arrive onsite.